Heather Heyer's mother, descendent of Robert E. Lee denounce racism at the VMAs
At the MTV Video Music Awards Sunday, a descendent of Robert E. Lee and Heather Heyer's mother appeared onstage together, denouncing racism and white supremacy.
Heyer was killed earlier this month while demonstrating against a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which was partly organized to protest the removal of a statue of Lee. Susan Bro announced she was launching a foundation in her daughter's name that will "provide scholarships to help more people join Heather's fight against hatred," adding that Heyer "never marched alone. She was always joined by people from every race and every background in this country."
Bro was introduced by Rev. Robert Lee IV, who said it was his "moral duty to speak out against racism, America's original sin. Today, I call on all of us with privilege and power to answer God's call to confront racism and white supremacy head-on." Lee added that inspiration can be found in "the Black Lives Matter movement, the women who marched in the Women's March in January, and, especially, Heather Heyer, who died fighting for her beliefs." Catherine Garcia
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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